Rio Olympic 2016

Ibtihaj Muhammad was asked on the street whether she was an Islamic terrorist. Days later, she met the First Lady and gave her a good fencing lesson. Muhammad is now the first hijab-wearing Olympian of the USA team. She is glad that she is part of the team in this time of political instability in the country. She is happy because she goes a chance to challenge the misconceptions that people have about Muslim women. She believes that the global community is unhealthy now and needs to change.

Muhammad’s view of the current political situation

Eight American police officers were shot dead last month in US and America. In France, 84 people were killed by a lorry on Bastille Day. The Islamic State took responsibility for most of these attacks. As a reaction to these incidents, Muhammad thinks that everyone is misunderstanding the religion. This kind of problems has become so common that you now take the sound of bombs and gunshots to be a regular part of your life. She wants to be the source of inspiration not only to the Muslim youths but also to other kids. She wants to encourage Muslim women to be active. She expects to see a positive change in the Muslim society of this country.

Who is Ibtihaj Muhammad?

She is ranked as no. 2 in the USA and no. 8 in the World for women’s saber fencing. She was born in New Jersey, USA. She is enlisted as one of the 100 most influential people in the world selected by the Time magazine this year. She is the advertising face of the credit card company Visa. She won the Pan American title in June. In 2014, she won the gold medal for the USA at the World Fencing Championships in Russia.

Muhammad’s selection at the Olympic Games this year comes at a time when the prominence of women in politics and sports is at the highest level. Theresa May became the Prime Minister of UK; Angela Merkel is the leader in Germany, and Hillary Clinton is fighting to become the first female president of the USA. The post of FIFA general secretary has also gone to Fatma Samoura, the first women to get the post ever. There are lots of expectation from Muhammad at this year’s Rio Olympic Games.